Thrust sliding bearing and combination mechanism of the thrust sliding bearing and piston rod with coil spring

ABSTRACT

A thrust sliding bearing includes an synthetic resin-made annular bearing body having an annular upper surface, an annular outer peripheral surface, and an annular lower surface; a synthetic resin-made annular bearing body having an annular lower surface; a sheet metal-made reinforcement member having an annular lower surface and an annular upper surface; a synthetic resin-made thrust sliding bearing piece interposed between the annular upper surface of the reinforcement member and the annular lower surface of the bearing body; and a synthetic resin-made radial sliding bearing piece disposed between an annular inner peripheral surface of a hollow cylindrical portion of the reinforcement member and an annular outer peripheral surface of a hollow cylindrical portion of the bearing body.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/531,538, filedSep. 16, 2009, now allowed, which claims priority to PCT/JP2008/000658,filed Mar. 19, 2008 and Japanese application no. 2007-073627, filed onMar. 20, 2007, each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a thrust sliding bearing, and moreparticularly to a thrust sliding bearing which is suitably incorporatedas a sliding bearing of a strut-type suspension (Macpherson type) in afour-wheeled vehicle, as well as a combination mechanism of the thrustsliding bearing and a piston rod with a coil spring of a shock absorberin a strut-type suspension.

BACKGROUND ART

[Patent Document 1] JP-A-8-326758

[Patent Document 2] JP-A-2004-263773

[Patent Document 3] JP-A-2004-225754

A strut-type suspension used for a front wheel of a four-wheeled vehiclehas a structure in which a strut assembly incorporating a hydraulicshock absorber in an outer cylinder integrated with a main shaft iscombined with a coil spring. Among such suspensions, there is a type inwhich when the strut assembly rotates together with the coil spring inthe steering operation, the piston rod of the strut assembly rotates,and a type in which the piston rod does not rotate. In either type,there are cases where, instead of a rolling bearing, a syntheticresin-made thrust sliding bearing is used between a mechanism formounting the strut assembly to the vehicle body and a sheet metal-madeupper spring seat member which receives one end of coil spring in orderto allow a smooth rotation of the strut assembly.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention

Incidentally, in the strut assembly, the coil spring is received at itsone end portion by the sheet metal-made upper spring seat member, asdescribed above, and since the sheet metal-made upper spring seat memberis likely to be splashed with or covered with rainwater and mud duringtraveling, an anti-corrosion measure such as coating needs to beprovided for the upper spring seat member. Further, when the strutassembly together with the synthetic resin-made thrust sliding bearingis assembled to the vehicle body, two steps or two kinds of operationare required including the mounting of the synthetic resin-made thrustsliding bearing and the mounting of the upper spring seat member.Therefore, it cannot necessarily be said that the assembling efficiencyis excellent, and higher cost is entailed. Furthermore, in the casewhere the sheet metal-made upper spring seat member is used, since thecoil spring is formed of metal, the contact between the one end of thecoil spring and the upper spring seat member becomes that betweenmetals, so that rigid interference can possibly occur therebetween.

The present invention has been devised in view of the above-describedaspects, and its object is to provide a thrust sliding bearing which,without using the sheet metal-made upper spring seat member, is capableof receiving the one end of the coil spring and thereby rendersunnecessary an anti-corrosion measure such as coating required in theuse of the sheet metal-made upper spring seat member, and which iscapable of simplifying the operation of assembling the strut assembly toenable cost reduction and of eliminating rigid interference due tocontact between metals, as well as a combination mechanism of thisthrust sliding bearing and a piston rod with a coil spring in a strutassembly.

Means for Overcoming the Problems

A thrust sliding bearing in accordance with the present inventioncomprises: a synthetic resin-made annular first bearing body having anannular upper surface and an annular lower surface; a syntheticresin-made annular second bearing body which is superposed on the firstbearing body so as to be relatively rotatable about an axis of the firstbearing body and has an annular lower surface opposed to the annularupper surface of the first bearing body; a sheet metal-madereinforcement member having an annular lower surface in contact with theannular upper surface of the first bearing body and an annular uppersurface opposed to the annular lower surface of the second bearing body;and thrust sliding bearing means interposed between the annular uppersurface of the reinforcement member and the annular lower surface of thesecond bearing body and having an annular lower surface and an annularupper surface which are respectively in slidable contact with theannular upper surface of the reinforcement member and the annular lowersurface of the second bearing body, wherein the first bearing body isadapted to receive at the annular lower surface thereof one end of acoil spring.

According to the thrust sliding bearing in accordance with theinvention, the sheet metal-made reinforcement member is provided whichhas an annular lower surface in contact with the annular upper surfaceof the first bearing body and an annular upper surface opposing theannular lower surface of the second bearing body, and the first bearingbody is adapted to receive at its annular lower surface the one end ofthe coil spring. Therefore, it is possible to disuse the sheetmetal-made upper spring seat member. Hence, it is possible to renderunnecessary an anti-corrosion measure such as coating required in theuse of the sheet metal-made upper spring seat member. Moreover, theoperation of assembling the strut assembly to the vehicle body can besimplified, making it possible to achieve cost reduction. Furthermore,it is possible to eliminate rigid interference due to contact betweenmetals.

In a preferred example, the first bearing body has an annular innerperipheral surface continuous to an inner peripheral edge of the annularupper surface thereof; the reinforcement member includes an annularplate portion having the annular lower surface and the annular uppersurface, and a hollow cylindrical portion extending integrally from aninner peripheral edge of the annular plate portion in an axial directionand having an annular outer peripheral surface in contact with theannular inner peripheral surface of the first bearing body; the secondbearing body includes an upper bearing main body having the annularlower surface and a hollow cylindrical portion extending integrally froman inner peripheral edge of the upper bearing main body in the axialdirection and having an annular outer peripheral surface opposed to anannular inner peripheral surface of the hollow cylindrical portion ofthe reinforcement member; and radial sliding bearing means is disposedbetween the annular inner peripheral surface of the hollow cylindricalportion of the reinforcement member and the annular outer peripheralsurface of the hollow cylindrical portion of the second bearing body.

In the invention, the thrust sliding bearing means may have a syntheticresin-made thrust sliding bearing piece which is separate from thesecond bearing body, or may have in substitution thereof a syntheticresin-made thrust sliding bearing portion formed integrally with thesecond bearing body.

The first bearing body is formed of a synthetic resin, and,specifically, as the synthetic resin it is possible to cite athermoplastic resin such as polyacetal resin, polyamide resin, or thelike, or a reinforced synthetic resin in which a reinforcing filler suchas glass fiber, carbon fiber, or the like is contained in such a resin.

The second bearing body may be formed of a synthetic resin including atleast one of polyacetal resin, polyamide resin, thermoplastic polyesterresin, polyolefin resin, polycarbonate resin, and fluororesin. In thecase where the thrust sliding bearing means is embodied by the thrustsliding bearing piece, such a thrust sliding bearing piece may be formedof a synthetic resin including at least one of polyacetal resin,polyamide resin, thermoplastic polyester resin, polyolefin resin, andfluororesin. As for the second bearing body, a synthetic resin similarto the synthetic resin constituting the thrust sliding bearing piece canbe used, but particularly a synthetic resin which exhibits satisfactoryfriction characteristics when combined with the synthetic resin used forthe thrust sliding bearing piece is used. To illustrate examples ofdesirable combinations thereof, it is possible to cite the followingcombinations for the thrust sliding bearing piece and the second bearingbody: a combination of polyacetal resin and polyamide resin; acombination of a polyolefin resin, particularly polyethylene resin, andpolyacetal resin; a combination of polyacetal resin and a thermoplasticpolyester resin, particularly polybutylene terephthalate resin; and acombination of polyacetal resin and polyacetal resin. The radial slidingbearing piece may be formed of a synthetic resin similar to that of thethrust sliding bearing piece.

The sheet metal-made reinforcement member in a preferred example isformed of a steel plate made of such as steel, stainless steel, or thelike, but may alternatively be formed of a nonferrous alloy plate madeof such as a copper alloy, a titanium alloy, or the like.

A combination mechanism of a thrust sliding bearing and a piston rodwith a coil spring in accordance with the invention, or a combinationmechanism for use in a strut-type suspension in a four-wheeled vehiclein a preferred example, comprises: the thrust sliding bearing accordingto either one of the above-described aspects; and a piston rod and acoil spring of a shock absorber in a strut-type suspension, wherein thepiston rod is fixed at its upper end portion to a mounting plate of amounting mechanism for mounting to a vehicle body, one end of the coilspring is in contact with the annular lower surface of the first bearingbody, and the second bearing body has its annular upper surface incontact with a lower surface of a mounting plate.

Advantages of the Invention

According to the invention, it is possible to provide a thrust slidingbearing which, without using the sheet metal-made upper spring seatmember, is capable of receiving the one end of the coil spring andthereby renders unnecessary an anti-corrosion measure such as coatingrequired in the use of the sheet metal-made upper spring seat member,and which is capable of simplifying the operation of assembling thestrut assembly to enable cost reduction and of eliminating rigidinterference due to contact between metals, as well as a combinationmechanism of this thrust sliding bearing and a piston rod with a coilspring in a strut assembly.

Hereafter, a more detailed description will be given of the mode forcarrying out the invention on the basis of preferred embodimentsillustrated in the drawings. It should be noted that the presentinvention is not limited to these embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded cross-sectional view of the embodiment shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a thrust sliding bearing piece in theembodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a radial sliding bearing piece in theembodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of the embodimentshown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment in which theembodiment shown in FIG. 1 is used in a strut-type suspension.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

In FIGS. 1 to 5, a thrust sliding bearing 1 of this embodiment includesa synthetic resin-made annular bearing body 5 having an annular uppersurface 2 extending perpendicularly to an axial direction A, i.e.,extending in a radial direction, an annular outer peripheral surface 3extending in the axial direction A continuously to an outer peripheraledge of the annular upper surface 2, and an annular lower surface 4extending perpendicularly to the axial direction A and opposed to theannular upper surface 2; a synthetic resin-made annular bearing body 7which is superposed on the bearing body 5 so as to be relativelyrotatable about an axis O of the bearing body 5 in an R direction, andhas an annular lower surface 6 opposed to the annular upper surface 2 ofthe bearing body 5 and extending perpendicularly to the axial directionA; a sheet metal-made reinforcement member 10 having an annular lowersurface 8 extending perpendicularly to the axial direction A andcontacting the annular upper surface 2 of the bearing body 5 and anannular upper surface 9 opposed to the annular lower surface 6 of thebearing body 7 and extending perpendicularly to the axial direction A;an annular synthetic resin-made thrust sliding bearing piece 11 whichserves as a thrust sliding bearing means interposed between the annularupper surface 9 of the reinforcement member 10 and the annular lowersurface 6 of the bearing body 7, and which is formed separately from thereinforcement member 10 and the bearing body 7; and an annular syntheticresin-made radial sliding bearing piece 16 serving as a radial slidingbearing means disposed between an annular inner peripheral surface 13 ofa hollow cylindrical portion 12 of the reinforcement member 10 and anannular outer peripheral surface 15 of a hollow cylindrical portion 14of the bearing body 7.

The bearing body 5 integrally includes an annular lower bearing mainbody 22 having the annular upper surface 2, the annular outer peripheralsurface 3, an annular inner peripheral surface 21 continuous to an innerperipheral edge of the annular upper surface 2 and extending in theaxial direction A, and the annular lower surface 4 continuous to theannular outer peripheral surface 3; a hollow cylindrical portion 23extending diagonally radially inwardly from the annular inner peripheralsurface 21 of the lower bearing main body 22 and then extendingsuspendedly in the axial direction A; an annular inner projectingportion 25 formed integrally with a recessedly curved upper end face 24of the hollow cylindrical portion 23 continuous to the annular innerperipheral surface 21 and standing upright from the recessedly curvedupper end face 24 toward the annular lower surface 6; an annular outerprojecting portion 26 formed integrally with the annular upper surface 2of the lower bearing main body 22 standing uprightly toward the annularlower surface 6 and disposed radially outwardly of the inner projectingportion 25; an annular outermost edge side projecting portion 27 formedintegrally at an outermost edge of the annular upper surface 2 of thelower bearing main body 22 standing uprightly toward the annular lowersurface 6 and disposed radially outwardly of the outer projectingportion 26; and an annular engaging projection 28 formed integrally withthe lower bearing main body 22 and the outermost edge side projectingportion 27 and projecting radially outwardly from a portion of theannular outer peripheral surface 3 of the lower bearing main body 22 andthe annular outer peripheral surface of the outermost edge sideprojecting portion 27.

The lower bearing main body 22 has a sufficiently larger thickness inthe axial direction A than the thickness in the axial direction A of anupper bearing main body 34 of the bearing body 7. It should be notedthat the thickness of the lower bearing main body 22 may be identical tothe thickness in the axial direction A of the upper bearing main body 34of the bearing body 7, depending on the synthetic resin for forming thelower bearing main body 22.

The hollow cylindrical portion 23 includes, in addition to therecessedly curved upper end face 24, an annular inner peripheral surface36 which is continuous to the recessedly curved upper end face 24 todefine a central through hole 35 and which extends in the axialdirection A, as well as an annular outer peripheral surface 37continuous to the annular lower surface 4 and extending in the axialdirection A.

The inner projecting portion 25 has an annular inner peripheral surface41 having a larger diameter than the diameter of the annular innerperipheral surface 36; an annular outer peripheral surface 43 definingan annular recess 42 in cooperation with the recessedly curved upper endface 24; and an annular top surface 46 opposing a lower end face 44 ofthe inner hollow cylindrical portion 14 with an annular gap 45therebetween. The outer projecting portion 26 having an annular innerperipheral surface 47 and outer peripheral surface 48 has an annular topsurface 50 which opposes the annular lower surface 6 with an annular gap49 therebetween. The outermost edge side projecting portion 27 has anannular inner peripheral surface 52 defining an annular recess 51 incooperation with the annular upper surface 2 and the outer peripheralsurface 48, as well as an annular top surface 54 opposing the annularlower surface 6 with an annular gap 53 therebetween.

The bearing body 7 integrally includes the upper bearing main body 34having the annular lower surface 6 and an annular upper surface 61opposing the annular lower surface 6; the inner hollow cylindricalportion 14 extending suspendedly from an inner peripheral edge of thelower surface 6 of the upper bearing main body 34 in the axial directionA; an outer hollow cylindrical portion 62 extending suspendedly from anouter peripheral edge of the lower surface 6 of the upper bearing mainbody 34 in the axial direction A; an annular projecting portion 63formed integrally with the annular lower surface 6 of the upper bearingmain body 34 and suspended from the annular lower surface 6 toward theannular upper surface 2 of the lower bearing main body 22; an annularprojecting portion 64 formed integrally with the lower end face 44 ofthe hollow cylindrical portion 14 and suspended toward the recessedlycurved upper end face 24; and an annular projecting portion 65 formedintegrally with the lower end face 44 of the hollow cylindrical portion14 on the radially outer side of the projecting portion 64 and suspendedtoward the recessedly curved upper end face 24.

In addition to the annular outer peripheral surface 15 continuous to theinner peripheral edge of the annular lower surface 6 through a steppedportion 70 and the lower end face 44 opposing the recessedly curvedupper end face 24, the hollow cylindrical portion 14 includes an annularinner peripheral surface 73 which defines a central through hole 72concentric with the central through hole 35 in cooperation with an innerperipheral surface 71 of the projecting portion 64 and extends in theaxial direction A in a manner continuous to an inner peripheral edge ofthe annular upper surface 61.

The hollow cylindrical portion 62 includes an annular inner peripheralsurface 75 opposing the engaging projection 28, as well as an engagingprojection 76 which is integrally formed with the inner peripheralsurface 75 so as to project radially inwardly from that inner peripheralsurface 75, and engages the engaging projection 28 in a snap-fit manner.The arrangement provided is such that easy cancellation of thesuperposition of the bearing body 5 and the bearing body 7 is preventedby the engagement of the engaging projection 76 with the engagingprojection 28.

The projecting portion 63 has an inner peripheral surface 77 opposingthe outer peripheral surface 48 with a gap therebetween, an outerperipheral surface 78 opposing the inner peripheral surface 52 with agap therebetween, and a top surface 80 opposing the annular uppersurface 2 with a gap 79 therebetween and disposed in the recess 51. Inaddition to the inner peripheral surface 71, the projecting portion 64includes an outer peripheral surface 81 opposing the inner peripheralsurface 41 with a gap therebetween and an annular top surface 83opposing the recessedly curved upper end face 24 with a gap 82therebetween. The projecting portion 65 includes an inner peripheralsurface 85 which defines an annular recess 84 in cooperation with thelower end face 44 and the outer peripheral surface 81; an outerperipheral surface 86 continuous to the annular outer peripheral surface15; and an annular top surface 88 opposing the recessedly curved upperend face 24 with a gap 87 therebetween, the annular top surface 46 ofthe inner projecting portion 25 being disposed in the annular recess 84.The outer peripheral surface 78 of the projecting portion 63 defines anannular recess 89 in cooperation with the annular lower surface 6 andthe inner peripheral surface 75, and the annular top surface 54 of theoutermost edge side projecting portion 27 is disposed in the recess 89.

The reinforcement member 10 integrally includes an annular plate portion91 having the annular lower surface 8 and the annular upper surface 9and extending perpendicularly to the axial direction A; the hollowcylindrical portion 12 extending integrally from the inner peripheraledge of the annular plate portion 91 in an axial direction A and having,in addition to the annular inner peripheral surface 13, an annular outerperipheral surface 92 which is in contact with the annular innerperipheral surface 21 of the lower bearing main body 22 of the bearingbody 5; and an annular reduced-diameter portion 93 integrally extendingfrom the lower end of the hollow cylindrical portion 12 radiallyinwardly. The annular outer peripheral surface 15 of the hollowcylindrical portion 14 opposes the annular inner peripheral surface 13of the hollow cylindrical portion 12.

The disk-shaped thrust sliding bearing piece 11 is disposed in a space95 between the annular outer peripheral surface 15 of the hollowcylindrical portion 14 and the inner peripheral surface 47 of the outerprojecting portion 26 in the radial direction, and is radiallypositioned by the inner peripheral surface 47 of the outer projectingportion 26. This disk-shaped thrust sliding bearing piece 11 includes aflat annular upper surface 96 which is brought into contact with theannular lower surface 6 of the upper bearing main body 34 relativelyslidably in the R direction; a flat annular lower surface 97 which isbrought into contact with the annular upper surface 9 of thereinforcement member 10 relatively slidably in the R direction; aplurality of radially extending grooves 98 and an annular groove 99communicating with the plurality of grooves 98, the plurality of grooves98 and the annular groove 99 being provided in each of the upper surface96 and the lower surface 97; an annular outer peripheral surface 100which is brought into contact with the inner peripheral surface 47 ofthe outer projecting portion 26 relatively slidably in the R direction;and an annular inner peripheral surface 102 defining a central throughhole 101. In the same way as the annular lower surface 6 and the annularupper surface 9, the upper surface 96 and the lower surface 97 extendflatly and perpendicularly to the axis O, and a lubricant such as greaseis adapted to be accumulated in the plurality of grooves 98 and thegroove 99 in each of the upper surface 96 and the lower surface 97.

The annular radial sliding bearing piece 16 is disposed in an annularspace 110 between the annular inner peripheral surface 13 of the hollowcylindrical portion 12 and the annular outer peripheral surface 15 ofthe hollow cylindrical portion 14 in the radial direction, and ispositioned with respect to the axial direction A by the stepped portion70 and the reduced-diameter portion 93. This annular radial slidingbearing piece 16 has an annular outer peripheral surface 111 capable ofcoming into contact with the annular inner peripheral surface 13relatively slidably in the R direction; an annular inner peripheralsurface 113 capable of coming into contact with the annular outerperipheral surface 15 relatively slidably in the R direction anddefining a central through hole 112; and a plurality of grooves 116which extend in the axial direction A, are open in an annular upper endface 114 and a lower end face 115, and are formed in the annular innerperipheral surface 113.

The space 95 where the thrust sliding bearing piece 11 and the annularplate portion 91 of the reinforcement member 10 are disposedcommunicates on its radially outer peripheral side with the outsidethrough an outer labyrinth including the gaps 49, 53 and 79, andcommunicates with the space 110 on its radially inner peripheral side.The space 110 on its axially lower side communicates with the outsidethrough an inner labyrinth including the gaps 45 and 82, and the space95 communicates on its radially inner peripheral side with the outsidethrough an inner labyrinth consisting of the space 110 and the grooves116 as well as the gaps 45 and 82.

In the above-described thrust sliding bearing 1, the bearing body 5 andthe bearing body 7 are superposed on and coupled to each other by meansof the snap-fit type engagement of the engaging projection 76 with theengaging projection 28 making use of the flexibility of the syntheticresin, such that the reinforcement member 10, the radial sliding bearingpiece 16, and the thrust sliding bearing piece 11 are accommodatedbetween the bearing body 5 and the bearing body 7. In the relativerotation of the bearing body 5 and the reinforcement member 10 withrespect to the bearing body 7 about the axis O in the R direction,low-friction sliding in the R direction is caused between the uppersurface 96 of the thrust sliding bearing piece 11 and the annular lowersurface 6 of the upper bearing main body 34 or between the lower surface97 of the thrust sliding bearing piece 11 and the annular upper surface9 of the reinforcement member 10. In such relative rotation of thebearing body 5 and the reinforcement member 10 with respect to thebearing body 7 about the axis O in the R direction, in a case where thebearing body 5 and the reinforcement member 10 are radially displacedwith respect to the bearing body 7, low-friction sliding in the Rdirection is caused between the annular outer peripheral surface 111 ofthe radial sliding bearing piece 16 and the annular inner peripheralsurface 13 of the hollow cylindrical portion 12 or low-friction slidingin the R direction is caused between the annular inner peripheralsurface 113 of the radial sliding bearing piece 16 and the annular outerperipheral surface 15 of the hollow cylindrical portion 14. Thus, therelative rotation of the bearing body 5 and the reinforcement member 10with respect to the bearing body 7 about the axis O in the R directionis allowed to be effected with extremely low frictional resistance.

As shown in FIG. 6, such a thrust sliding bearing 1 is used by beinginterposed between, on the one hand, a strut-type suspension of avehicle, e.g., a strut-type suspension 123 of a four-wheeled vehicle,which includes a hydraulic shock absorber (not shown) having a pistonrod 121 therein and a coil spring 122 disposed so as to surround such ahydraulic shock absorber, and, on the other hand, a mounting mechanism124 for mounting the strut-type suspension 123 to the vehicle body.

The piston rod 121 includes a large-diameter main body portion 130 whichis passed through the central through holes 35 and 72 of the bearingbody 5 and the bearing body 7; a small-diameter upper end portion 131whose diameter is smaller than the main body portion 130 and which isformed integrally with the main body portion 130; and a collar portion132 which is formed between the main body portion 130 and the upper endportion 131 integrally therewith. The mounting mechanism 124 includes anannular resilient member 136 with the collar portion 132 embeddedtherein, as well as a pair of mounting plates 137 for clamping theresilient member 136 therebetween and secured to each other by threadingor welding. The piston rod 121 is thus fixed at its upper end portion131 to the mounting plate 137 of the mounting mechanism 124 for mountingto the vehicle body. The thrust sliding bearing 1 is interposed betweenthe coil spring 122 and the lower mounting plate 137 such that theannular upper surface 61 of the bearing body 7 is brought into contactwith and pressed against an annular lower surface 138 of the lowermounting plate 137 by the resiliency of the coil spring 122. The bearingbody 5 is adapted to receive at its annular lower surface 4 one end 140of the coil spring 122 which is in contact with that annular lowersurface 4.

In the above-described combination mechanism of the thrust slidingbearing 1 and the piston rod 121 with the coil spring 122 in thestrut-type suspension 123, when the coil spring 122 is rotated about theaxis O in the R direction by the steering operation, the bearing body 5is similarly rotated relatively in the R direction with respect to thebearing body 7. This rotation of the bearing body 5 is effected smoothlyby the thrust sliding bearing piece 11 disposed between the bearing body5 and the bearing body 7, so that the steering operation is performedwithout resistance.

According to the thrust sliding bearing 1, the sheet metal-madereinforcement member 10 is provided which has the annular lower surface8 in contact with the annular upper surface 2 of the bearing body 5 andthe annular upper surface 9 opposing the annular lower surface 6 of thebearing body 7, and the bearing body 5 is adapted to receive at itsannular lower surface 4 the one end 140 of the coil spring 122.Therefore, it is possible to disuse the sheet metal-made upper springseat member. Hence, it is possible to render unnecessary ananti-corrosion measure such as coating required in the use of the sheetmetal-made upper spring seat member. Moreover, the operation ofassembling the thrust sliding bearing 1 and the strut-type suspension123 to the vehicle body can be simplified, making it possible to achievecost reduction. Furthermore, it is possible to eliminate rigidinterference due to contact between metals.

The above-described thrust sliding bearing 1 is an example in which thethrust sliding bearing piece 11 which is separate from the bearing body7 is provided as the thrust sliding bearing means, but a syntheticresin-made annular thrust sliding bearing portion which is formedintegrally with the annular lower surface 6 of the bearing body 7 mayalternatively be provided as the thrust sliding bearing means.

1. A thrust sliding bearing comprising: a synthetic resin-made annularfirst bearing body having an annular upper surface and an annular lowersurface; a synthetic resin-made annular second bearing body which issuperposed on said first bearing body so as to be relatively rotatableabout an axis of said first bearing body and has an annular lowersurface opposed to the annular upper surface of said first bearing body;a sheet metal-made reinforcement member having an annular lower surfacein contact with the annular upper surface of said first bearing body andan annular upper surface opposed to the annular lower surface of saidsecond bearing body; and thrust sliding bearing means interposed betweenthe annular upper surface of said reinforcement member and the annularlower surface of said second bearing body and having an annular lowersurface and an annular upper surface which are respectively in slidablecontact with the annular upper surface of said reinforcement member andthe annular lower surface of said second bearing body, wherein saidfirst bearing body is adapted to receive at the annular lower surfacethereof one end of a coil spring.
 2. The thrust sliding bearingaccording to claim 1, wherein said first bearing body has an annularinner peripheral surface continuous to an inner peripheral edge of theannular upper surface thereof; said reinforcement member includes anannular plate portion having the annular lower surface and the annularupper surface, and a hollow cylindrical portion extending integrallyfrom an inner peripheral edge of the annular plate portion in an axialdirection and having an annular outer peripheral surface in contact withthe annular inner peripheral surface of said first bearing body; saidsecond bearing body includes an upper bearing main body having theannular lower surface and a hollow cylindrical portion extendingintegrally from an inner peripheral edge of the upper bearing main bodyin the axial direction and having an annular outer peripheral surfaceopposed to an annular inner peripheral surface of the hollow cylindricalportion of said reinforcement member; and radial sliding bearing meansis disposed between the annular inner peripheral surface of the hollowcylindrical portion of said reinforcement member and the annular outerperipheral surface of the hollow cylindrical portion of said secondbearing body.
 3. A combination mechanism of a thrust sliding bearing anda piston rod with a coil spring, comprising: the thrust sliding bearingaccording to claim 1; and a piston rod and a coil spring of a shockabsorber in a strut-type suspension, wherein said piston rod is fixed atits upper end portion to a mounting plate of a mounting mechanism formounting to a vehicle body, one end of said coil spring is in contactwith the annular lower surface of said first bearing body, and saidsecond bearing body has its annular upper surface in contact with alower surface of a mounting plate.
 4. The combination mechanism of athrust sliding bearing and a piston rod with a coil spring according toclaim 3 for use in a strut-type suspension in a four-wheeled vehicle.